KATE and Gerry McCann were "disappointed" today after a judge ruled they cannot give evidence at the £1million libel trial of disgraced detective Goncalo Amaral.

Obviously Gerry and Kate were disappointed when they were told the news, but that is the judge's decision and they have to accept that.

The McCanns' lawyer Isabel Duarte

The couple wanted to take the stand to explain how Amaral's book about the Madeleine case had left them devastated.

But judge Maria de Melo e Castro ruled neither the McCanns nor the former police officer can give evidence in the case.

The couple, both 45-year-old doctors from Rothley, Leics, are suing Amaral for £1 million over his book The Truth of the Lie and a related TV documentary.

In the book Amaral, the former chief investigator on the case, claimed Madeleine died in the family's Algarve holiday apartment and accused the parents of faking her abduction.

The McCanns say Amaral became rich by promoting his warped theories after being thrown off the investigation in October 2007, five months after Madeleine went missing.

The judge also ruled Amaral cannot give evidence in the civil case, being heard at the Palace of Justice in Lisbon.

The McCanns' lawyer Isabel Duarte said today: "Obviously Gerry and Kate were disappointed when they were told the news, but that is the judge's decision and they have to accept that.

"We believe they have the right to give evidence in the case. But the judge has made up her mind."

The judge informed the McCanns' legal team of her decision today.

Madeleine McCann went missing in 2007 [PA]

The libel trial began last September and heard how Mrs McCann contemplated suicide after Amaral's book was published.

British psychologist Alan Pike, who counselled Madeleine's mother, said she confessed to "secret dark thoughts" about suicide after the book came out.

The book was a best-seller in Portugal, selling 120,000 copies before it was removed from the shelves after the McCanns won an injunction.

The documentary based on the book was broadcast by Portuguese station TVI in April 2009 and was watched by 2.2million viewers.

Mr Amaral, 56, was thrown off the Madeleine investigation after publicly criticising British police involved in the case.

He denies defamation and claims everything in the book is based on police and court files on the case, which have been made public.

Lawyers for the McCanns, Amaral, the book publishers and the documentary producers, also being sued, are due to give their closing statements in the trial next Tuesday.

Madeleine went missing during a family holiday in Praia da Luz, in May 2007.

The case was shelved by Portuguese authorities the following year, but officially reopened last October when Portuguese police said there are "new lines of enquiry."

Speaking of their bid to give evidence against Amaral soon after they applied to testify, Gerry said: "My wife Kate and I know better than anyone else what we have experienced and what we have gone through and the damage that has been caused to the search for Madeleine."